Behind the scenes
by ItsallReal
Summary: Tonks/Remus. We all know what happens during the books between Dora and Remus, but what happens behind the scenes?
1. Order of the Phoenix

A slight sigh left Tonks's mouth as she was once again in her office, doing paperwork for her boss Rufus Scrimgeour. She was not alone. On the other side of the room was a tall, broad shouldered dark wizard sitting at his own desk. He was bald and wore a golden hoop earring. The room they were in was extremely dark. The floor had was a dark wooden one and the walls were painted brown. There were no windows, just a few lamps which were lit. On her left hand was the door to freedom and on the right, the door to her boss's office.

Three years ago, she started her Auror training. Concealment and Disguise were extremely easy for her to pass. She didn't need any training for it, since she is a metamorphmagus. The tricky part of the training was Stealth and Tracking. Tonks is extremely clumsy. She almost failed that course. Luckely she had her mentor Alastor Moody, for whom she had a lot of respect. He trained her and made sure she was to pass.

A few weeks ago she heard from Moody that Voldemort had returned. When she heard that, she thought that herself and the other Aurors would go out and fight him. But instead, she was inside, reading through a big pile of paper. She told Moody about her problem with the fact that the Ministry was telling everybody that it was all lies. The minister made sure that none of it would be in the Daily Prophet, because he didn't want to cause panic.

Moody got so tired of her ranting on about it, that he told her there was a secret society which was actually fighting Voldemort. Tonks begged him if she could join in. After at least three days of whining, he gave in and said he would talk with the members of this society. She was not to tell anyone about this matter.

When she had finally finished working, Moody was waiting for her at the other side of the door to freedom. He had a wooden leg. You could see from the scars on his face and his glass eye that he had been through a lot already. His spinning glass eye could see everything and it made Tonks nauseous most of the time. He also was holding a big walking stick, to lean on.

"I talked to them," he said with his usually grumpy voice, "they were fine with it. Dumbledore-"

"Dumbledore?!" Tonks shouted.

Moody muttered, "are you out of your right mind? We are in the Ministry of Magic. To shout his name is uncalled for. You know how much they hate him here."

"I'm sorry," Tonks said, throwing in her usual big doll eyes.

Moody growled, "he was happy to hear someone in the Ministry wanted to join in. You could spy for us. Tell us what they are doing here."

Tonks squealed, "Thank you."

She hugged Moody. He growled once again, "yeah sure kid. Whatever."

She had so much questions. Who was she going to meet? What would these people be like? Are they kind? Does Dumbledore still look the same as he did six years ago?

They walked out of the Ministry, into London. It was still a little bit warm out now, since it was summer. The sun was starting to set. Tonks could hardly keep her emotions cropped up inside. She squealed once again.

"Will you stop making those noises? It's extremely annoying, Nymphadora."

How much she hated to be called by that name. Her fool of her mother had called her that. Any name would have been better. She'd rather just be known by her surname only, which was Tonks.

She was about to make a remark at Moody when he suddenly came to a halt and she bumped into him, making her flinch and stumble.

"What-"

She was cut off by a loud hiss from Moody. They had stopped at a row of tall but small apartments. Suddenly he started banging his stick on the floor, one, two, three times. Tonks heard a loud crack and suddenly the apartments on the left started moving and made place for another one.

"It is well protected," was the only thing Moody said.

They walked up the garden path up to the front door. Moody swung the door open and a big cloud of dust floated off into the sky.

On the floor of the small corridor was still a lot of dust lying. There hadn't been anyone in this house for a long time. At least, that was what it looked like. On the right of the corridor was a staircase and on the floor lay a long carpet.

"Wait here," Moody said.

He walked to the end of the corridor, while making a lot of noise with his wooden leg on the wooden floor. Tonks noticed a painting on the end of the corridor, which was covered with a blanket. She sat down on the lowest stair, put her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. Whispers came from the room on the end of the hallway. She heard Moody mentioning her by her first name once again. Tonks could not hear the rest of the conversation. All she could hear were soft whispers and all she could see was Moody's back.

The front door opened and someone came in she did not quite expect to see.

"Kingsley?"

It was the Auror who sat on the other side of her office, Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Tonks?" He looked down at her, raising an eyebrow. His voice was deep and reassuring.

"Wotcher," she said, smiling.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here with Moody," she said, pointing at his back, "told me I could be part of this society."

"You were the pupil he was talking about?" Tonks nodded. "And why are you sitting on these stairs?"

"Moody told me to stay here."

"He did, hmmph."

Kingsley walked up to Moody, tapped him on the back and said, "you think that's funny? Leaving her in the corridor? What do you want to do, starve her?"

Moody groaned, "come here, Nymphadora"

"Don't call me Nymphadora," Tonks said, while jumped up from the stairs.

Suddenly the door at the end seemed so far away. Moody and Kingsley moved away from the door into the room. Finally she could see into the room. A table was standing in the middle and one person sat at the table. Nerves hit her and she shivered. She wanted to belong to this society, blend in with these people. She would not ruin this moment. She walked up to the door and when she almost reached it, she felt her foot got a hold on something. A small umbrella stand at the end of the hallway. Before she could even understand what was happening, she heard a loud bang.

Everything became blurry afterwards. A loud scream was sent through the house. Tonks felt warm hands gripping her and turning her over. A warm sensation crept over her face, from her forehead to her temple. Kinglsey said something. A chair cracked. Footsteps. She heard running water. Footsteps again. A cold hand cupped around the back of her head and then a wet cloth covered her forehead.

"Tonks, stay with us," she heard Kingsley say.

All she could do was moan and reach for her head, which had started to feel like it had split in two. She felt a cold hand holding the cloth.

"Stay still," a man's voice told her, which she had never heard before. It was soft and calm. Tonks let her arm fall down.

Her vision became less blurry. Kingsley and another man were taking care of her. The man holding the cloth on her forehead was a tall and thin man. He looked like he barely had any sleep. His face was pale and showed some premature lines. Across his face were some thick scars. His hair was light brown and flecked with gray.

"And that, Tonks, is why you almost failed Stealth and Tracking," she heard Moody say.

The man, which had been holding the cloth, was now holding his wand in his hand. "This might hurt a little," he said. The man muttered a healing spell. She whinced. Tonks now understood that the warm sensation she had felt, was actually blood flowing down her face. She noticed she was lying on the ground. When she looked up, she could see the chair which she had bumped into with her head.

"Now that is a wonderful entrance," a voice said, which Tonks knew.

"Sirius?" she whispered.

The two men, Kingsley and the cloth holder, lifted her and put her on a chair. She finally could see everything clear again. The man which had held the cloth, sat across her on the other side of the table. She knew him as well.

"Aren't you Remus Lupin? You're a werewolf, right? I read about you in the Daily Prophet."

She just said something she shouldn't have said. The man looked at her, emotionless. It scared her, but nevertheless she put our her hand to shake his, "nice to meet you," she said.

All he did was raise an eyebrow. She could actually see his green eyes now. Tonks put her arms across her chest. She could not believe how rude this man was being.

"Dora. You're still as kind and clumsy as I remember."

When Tonks turned her head to the right, she noticed Sirius Black, standing in the corner of the kitchen. She had known him for a very long time.

"Sirius," she stood up to give him the biggest hug ever, but the aftermatch of her fall was burning in her head. She felt dizzy and struggled to keep standing. Instead, Sirius came to her and got hold of her.

"You've grown," she heard him say.

"You haven't."

Sirius chuckled, "how long has it been, Dora? It must've been at least twelve years."

"If you hadn't escaped Azkaban, I wouldn't even know who you were," Tonks said.

Sirius Black was the first person ever to escape the higly guarded prison of Azkaban. It must have been a nightmare to him. He sat there, because the Ministry of Magic thought he had betrayed his best friends, James and Lilly Potter. This was not true. Instead of Sirius, it had been Peter Pettigrew who betrayed them. Everybody knew about it in the Ministry, but they wouldn't let the Daily Prophet write about it.

Sirius's expression had changed when he heard the name Azkaban.

"I'm sorry," Tonks said.

Suddenly, Sirius was all smiles again, "welcome to the Order of the Phoenix." He raised his arms in the air, like as if he was presenting the most wonderful invention that could ever exist.

"Order of the Phoenix?"

"Yes, that's us. We're still looking for new members. Tonight we're having a meeting, so you'll meet all the others then," he lowered his arms and put his hands on her shoulders, "this was my parental home. Now we're using it as the main base for the Order."

"That's amazing."

"Well not that much. I can't go out, because the Ministry is still looking for me. Anyway when I heard you were wanting to join us, I said 'yes' right away, of course. Some of us said 'no' like-"

"Me," Remus said.

Tonks turned her head to Remus, "why?"

"Because you're too young. You shouldn't be fighting in these dangerous circumstances," he said, folding his hands together, "You'd better be off letting us take care of it."

"Do you think I can't handle this?" Tonks got annoyed by this man's behaviour, "well I can. I'm strong and I want to fight."

"That is your decision," Remus said, while still holding on to his emotionless expression.

Tonks wanted to punch this man in his face. What was wrong with him? She didn't train to become an Auror for nothing. She wanted to help the world. She wanted Voldemort to die.


	2. Don't fear the dark

The next two hours went by quickly. During these hours, more and more people streamed into Sirius's house. Even a whole family of red heads. The parents introduced themselves as Arthur and Molly Weasley. They brought along four sons, of which two were twins, and a daughter. Bill, Fred and George and Ron. Their only daughter was called, Ginny. They all had the same red hair and the same freckles. It was a wonderful sight to see such a large family.

This family also had taken another girl with them, who was not related. Hermione Granger. She was very smart and talented. She was greeting with a smile from Remus.

Minerva McGonagall, Arabella Figg, Dedalus Diggle, Elphias Doge, Mundungus Fletcher and Severus Snape were some of the others who came in as well. The house was packed but the kitchen table was large enough to fit all of them around it. It seemed like everyone was inside, but apparently so, this was not true.

"When will Dumbledore arrive?" Arabella asked.

"He had to take care of something before he could come here," McGonagall said, "he still needs to find a new teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Remus, wouldn't you like to teach again?"

"How much I'd like to, Minerva, you know very well I can't," Remus said, folding his hands, "you do remember what happened when everybody found out about my lycanthropy."

"Unfortunately, I do," McGonahall answered, "but Dumbledore is planning on giving the job to Dolores Umbridge to teach and I'm fully against it. To ask someone from the Ministry-"

"He asked Umbridge?" Tonks replied in disbelieve, "her way of teaching will be horrible. She is the undersecretary of the Minister. She'll do anything he asks from her."

"We know," Remus said, looking at her with his green emotionless eyes.

The front door opened and closed and an old man came through the kitchen door. It was Albus Dumbledore. He was tall and thin and his silver hair and beard shone into the light of the candles, which were lit by Molly. His eyes were a brilliant, soul-piercing shade of blue, and they twinkled with kindness.

"Good evening, everyone," he said, smiling.

Dumbledore was a man who, no matter what, always made everyone smile. Even in these dark times he made the whole room light up, just by smiling. Everyone seemed to be happy to see him. Tonks had always admired this man. He was old, over 100, but he kept going. He kept on fighting for what was right.

"Nymphadora," he said, "it's very nice to see you again."

Dumbledore was the only one who Tonks allowed to call her by her first name, except for her parents.

"Professor," she smiled, "it's nice to see you as well."

"I'm very glad that someone like yourself is wanting to join the Order. We could really use someone like you."

Tonks giggled, "I'm certain you will."

"Everyone," Dumbledore rose his voice, and everyone listened, "I'd like you to meet our newest member, Nymphadora Tonks. She will prove to be very usefull, since she herself is a metamorphmagus."

Remus rose from his chair abruptly and slammed his hands on the table, "You're a metamorphmagus?"

"Yes, Remus. Sit down please,"

Remus sat down slowly and kept his eyes fixed on Tonks, like as if he was expecting her to transform any moment.

"As you all know, we are still wanting some more members. The Order is not yet big enough to defeat Voldemort."

The Weasley gasped when Dumbledore said his name.

"Weasleys, fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself," Dumbledore continued, "Two wizards will be watching over Harry. The others will try and find more to join us. Now lets see," Dumbledore stroke his hand over his beard, "Mundungus and Dedalus, you will watch over Harry for now. The others have to make teams to find some more wizards who want to fight against Voldemort."

It was said and done. Everyone made teams. Tonks was just sitting there, looking around, searching for someone to be. Finally her eye crossed Remus's and she noticed that he was still looking at her, after Dumbledore had anounced she was a metamorphmagus.

"Shall we?" was all he said to her and all Tonks could think of to say was, "do I have a choice?"

After a few minutes, Dumbledore rose his voice again, "who goes with Nymphadora? Remus?" Remus nodded, "Great you must teach her."

"Teach her what?"

"Patronus, boggart, spells, everything you can think of."

"I will."

"Great, now that's settled, good luck to you all."

They were dismissed and everyone left the table and the house, except for the children of the Weasleys, Hermione, Remus and Sirius. The children went upstairs to find themselves a room, thus Tonks was left alone with Molly, Arthur, Remus and Sirius.

"What is a patronus?" Tonks said, with a little doubt.

"It protects you against a Dementor, which are the guards from Azkaban. They feed off your happiness. And with a kiss they steal your soul," Remus answered.

"It's horrible, really," Sirius said, "they look like humans, only three meters tall and they are covered in dark hooded cloaks and their breath sounds like rattling."

"Well, are we off to do a patronus, or what?" Tonks asked Remus.

"Right, follow me," Remus said while standing up.

Tonks followed Remus out of the room, leaving Sirius, Molly and Arthur behind who were having a discussion about how filthy the house was. They walked up the stairs to the highest floor, which was the attic. It was a large open space in which it was easy to casts spells.

"This'll be enough space," Remus said.

"Do we really need this much space to make a patronus?"

"Yes we do, actually."

"Okay, teach me professor."

"The patronus is in fact a magical guardian, which consists only from positieve energy," Remus started walking around, "it is very difficult to produce a full, corporeal patronus. That means it takes the shape of an animal. To produce a patronus, you have think about a happy memory. The best you have."

"And what if I don't have a happy memory?"

Remus turned on heels to face her, "everyone has at least one happy memory. Even someone like me."

"Someone like you?"

"You really scared me back there, when you said you read about me in the Daily Prophet," Remus averted his eyes and looked down at the floor, "usually, when someone says that, they think very low of me. I've been chased, they've thrown all kinds of things to me. Everyone, but you."

"I- uhm. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I don't blame them. I'm a werewolf," he looked up at Tonks again, "I think of my friends, when I produce a patronus. James, Lilly, Sirius and Harry."

"I do have a happy memory. I just remembered," Tonks lightened up, "seeing Sirius again in such a long time. You see, when I was little he used to visit us," she explained when she saw Remus's confused expression, "when he was sent to Azkaban, I missed him so much."

Remus's left corner of his mouth lifted into something which looked like a smile, but quickly went back to his place, "show me what you got, Nymphadora."

"Don't-"

"I know you don't like to be called that way, but it seems so impersonal to call you by your last name. Also I rather like your name. Don't you know what it means?"

"No, but-"

"It means gift of the nymphs. And I think it's a wonderful name."

"Right, but at least call me Dora please."

This was the first time Tonks had seen a real smile on Remus's face. It was brief and honest.

"Now let's see what you make of that patronus."

Producing a full, corporeal patronus was harder than Tonks thought. The charm itself was not hard. Tonks felt like she had been saying at least a thousand times "expecto patronum" for the last hour or so. But no sight of any patronus.

"Do you think Sirius is a happy enough memory?" Remus asked her after a while.

"Not anymore." She was very disappointed in herself. Tonks dragged herself to the wall and slid down. She pulled up her knees, crossed her arms around them and hid her head behind her arms. "I'm no good."

"Maybe you just need another memory. Or add something to it."

"Like what?"

"Friends, family?" Remus hesitaded, "boyfriend?"

"I don't have a boyfriend. But you know what made me feel extremely happy. The Weasleys. Such a big family with so much love in it. I could feel it. Meeting all these wonderful new people also made me happy."

"Think of them and Sirius."

Tonks looked up at him. She wasn't sure about this being the best memory she has, but at least she could give it a try.

"Fine let's give it a try," Tonks pointed her wand up to the ceiling, "expecto patronum."

Against all her expectations, a white bunny jumped out of her wand.

"A jack rabbit?" Remus rose his eyebrow, "I was expecting a French bulldog."

"Excuse me?" Tonks said, feeling offended.

"Well they look rather silly and clumsy, don't they? Let's try something different," Remus had turned his back to her. With a wave of his wand, he made an old and small cabinet appear.

"A buggart? We did this in third year at Hogwarts."

"Yes, this musn't be any problem."

Tonks looked at the cabinet, which was ramlbing, and sighed, "very well," she stood up and walked to the cabinet.

Remus took place behind her. She could hear his breath, which made her neck hair stand up. With a small wave of Remus's wand and a click the door opened, and out of it came her mother, Andromeda. Tonks eyes widened. She had no idea what was going on. She did not fear her mother. Andromeda walked up to Tonks and grabbed her by her arm.

"What is happening?"  
"Think about something funny and say riddikulus," she heard Remus say behind her.

"Remus, what is this?"

Tonks had frozen with fear when Andromeda started dragging her to the cabinet. This couldn't be happening. Her gaze went to the small cramped space. She regained her strength and struggled, but this made her mother's hand tighten even more around her arm. They had reached the cabinet, and Andromeda put Tonks inside, slammed the door and locked it. Tonks felt tears welling in her eyes. She started banging the door, "Remus get me out of here," she cried out.

"Dora?" she heard Remus say.

The cramped space made her dizzy. She curled herself up in the corner of the cabinet and shivered.

To Tonks it felt like hourse before she heard Remus say "riddikulus." Her head started spinning and it made her feel like she was going to throw up. Tonks felt tears streaming down her cheeks when she heard a balloon pop. The door of the cabinet opened and the light blinded her. Remus stood in the door opening and behind his was a balloon speeding through the room.

"Are you alright?"

His soft caring voice made her crack open and cry.

"Come on," he said while hoisting her out of the cabinet, "you're fine. I'm here."

Remus put her arms around her and held her tight. A cold hand rubbed her back. On the place where he touched her, she got goosebumps. Tonks sobbed.

"What happened?" she heard Remus say.

Tonks shrugged.

"You know we have to tell Moody about this? We can't have you in the Order if you can't even defeat a buggart."

"I-" she sobbed once again, "I'll tell him."


	3. Surprise

On their way downstairs, Tonks and Remus had crossed a mirror in which Tonks could see her hair had changed from pink to a black color. Her usual curls had changed into spikes. The shock of the boggart had made her change her appearance. She changed her hair back to what it was supposed to be. She didn't need for Sirius, who was still downstairs, to see something bad had happened. When they had reached the kitchen and Tonks said she was going home, Sirius had offered her a room to stay overnight. She was now in that room, sitting on the bed, reflecting on the events of that day. She had met some wonderful people, produced a patronus and got defeated by a boggart. Tomorrow she had to tell Moody about what had happened.

A knock on the door startled Tonks out of her thoughts.

"Come in," she replied.

Remus opened the door and kept standing in the opening, holding the knob in his hand, "are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Remus," she said, looking down at the floor.

She heard Remus sigh, "you're sure?"

"I'm fine. Just leave, please."

Tonks heard the door creak and close. She curled herself up on the bed, underneath the blanket.

* * *

The next day she had woken up very early. The clock in the kitchen told her it was 6:30 a.m. Tonks was still tired, but couldn't sleep anymore because of the nerves. If Moody knew about how utterly she had failed, he might not even want her to stay in the Order anymore. Tonks had made herself some tea. She had put her hands around the cup, which was still warm. At the end of the kitchen was a fireplace, which was on. The fire crackled, which should be relaxing but it was not at this moment.

Tonks closed her eyes. She did not want to look at the clock anymore. Only two minutes had passed since the last time she had looked at it. Her thoughts went back to Moody. She saw his angry face, which was screaming at her. He was disappointed. She had led him down. He thought she could have done better. This was not what he had trained her for.

"Dora?"

Tonks opened her eyes, noticing that her head had slammed into the table. She had fallen asleep. A broken cup and tea were lying on the ground. Tonks sat up, cracking her back while she did, put her elbows on the table and her head in her hands.

"Sirius. I'm sorry. I-"

"It's fine, Dora," he smiled, "It's not mine, anyway." With a wave of his wand, he cleaned the floor, "did you have a nightmare? You were talking in your sleep."

"I dont know."  
"Remus told me about what happened," Sirius pointed at the couch which was in front of the fireplace. Somebody was sitting on it, "also, your hair color changed while you were asleep. We were really worried."

"I'm sorry."

Tonks was ashamed of herself. Not only Sirius had seen her, but Remus as well. When she looked up at the clock, she noticed she had been asleep for 30 minutes. A loud groan left her mouth. It made Remus turn around on the couch and Sirius raise his eyebrows at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked a little hesitant.

"'M okay. Barely had any sleep."

"I can see that," Sirius said, "you have the same black circles around your eyes as Remus."

Tonks sighed, "I'll be kicked out, Sirius. No way anyone wants me here when they hear I can't even handle a boggart."

"You shouldn't be here in the first place," Remus said.

"I want to, Remus. You don't understand."

Remus rose from the couch, walked over to the table and slammed his hand on it while his other was in his pocket, "you are too young to meddle with this war."

"No I'm not. You don't understand, mister Lupin. You see, I want to protect my future. I want my future children to grow up in peaceful times. And I want to be the one to make that happen. I want to fight for them, for their future. This, Remus, means everything to me."

"How can you tell you'll have children, if you don't even have a boyfriend," Lupin's expression had changed to his emotionless one once again with his green eyes once again staring at her.

For the next few seconds, they all remained silent. Remus kept looking at Tonks and she looked back at him with the most angry face she could pull. A opening and closing door at the end of the hallway made them all turn their heads. Through the kitchen door came Albus Dumbledore.

"Good morning," he said. His eyes twinkled with kindness.

"Professor," Sirius said, "we weren't expecting to see you until the next meeting."

"I know, but I was so eager to hear about Nymphadora's practise, that I couldn't help and come to hear about it from herself," he looked at Tonks with a smile, "so tell me, Nymphadora."

All eyes were fixed on Tonks. She swallowed and hesitated, "Err.. well"

She felt tingles in her belly, which were coused by the nerves. Telling Moody about her failure had exhausted her enough already. But to tell Dumbledore about it, that was something completely different. He had allowed her on Hogwarts. He was the best wizard and headmaster to Hogwarts that had ever lived. To disappoint someone so great and important, that was the worst that could ever happen to her.

"I- err,"

"She did great," Remus straightened his back. He looked at Dumbledore the most neutral way. Or at least, he thought he was.

The next five seconds were the most tence ones. Remus looked at Dumbledore and Dumbledore looked straight back at him.

"Really. Well that's great to hear," Dumbledore smiled again, "I knew you could do it."

Tonks jaw dropped, but closed her mouth right away. She could not believe what Remus had just done for her.

* * *

After Albus had left after a few hours of discussing Order business with the three of them, Tonks felt delighted and thankful. She hugged Remus and kept on repeating "thank you thank you.." Remus left out a smirk.

"There's no need to thank me, really."

As a reply, Tonks tightened her grip, "yes there is. Remus, thank you," she whispered in his neck.

Tonks looked up at Remus and he looked down at her. Tonks felt a warm feeling creep across her face, which startled her. His face was suddenly so close. She could see all the lines on his face clearly.

When Remus said, "just let go, please," she did.

"I- Thank you."

No words were said about it while they were eating breakfast. At 8 a.m., Tonks decided she had to take a shower. It might help make her feel less tense after everything that had happened. She left Sirius and Remus behind in the kitchen and went upstairs. When Sirius couldn't hear her anymore, he turned his attention to Remus.

"I know," Sirius said.

"You know what?" Remus replied, while reading the Daily Prophet.

"I can see it, Remus," Sirius crossed his arms in front of his chest, "I know you."

Remus looked up from his the newspaper, "what are you talking about, Sirius?"

"About Dora, of course. I can see you like her."

Remus hid his face behind the news paper, "I don't know what you mean."

"I think you do. I see the way you look at her. I can see you're in love with her."

Remus rose from the chair abruptly, "I am not in love with her, Sirius."

His voice was hard and sounded like he was telling the truth, but his face told otherwise. His skin had turned into a red kind of color. He was blushing.

"I'm not stupid, Remus. You like her and you can't deny it," Sirius said while raising his voice.

"You're seeing things which do not exist," Remus dropped himself on the chair.

"I'm your friend. You can tell me these things."

"I don't have anything to tell," Remus said, while continuing to read the newspaper.

"Fine, have it your way. You're being ridiculous."

Remus didn't answer. Sirius bolted around the table to the counter of the kitchen. It was not uncommon for them to have conversation like this. They often looked like a married quarreling couple.

Remus had to admit that the young witch had surprised him. Her tripping and falling into a chair, her mentioning the Daily Prophet to him and afterwards saying it was nice to meet him, her fear of the dark and loneliness, her being so loyal to her dreams. It had all surprised him and it only made him wonder how she was going to surprise him in the future. He had to admit, he was smitten by her. Her heart shaped face, dark sparkling eyes and her pink, cotton candy like, hair made him feel things he had never felt before. He had tried to hide it in front of her. A girl like her should not get involved with his sort. Of course, she would never feel anything for him. She'd probably just fall in love with a young wizard from the Ministry.

Remus tried to focus back on reading the Prophet. He had only been staring at the same page, while his mind wandered to the young witch who was upstairs at this very moment.

"Would you like some tea?" Sirius said, from the other end of the kitchen.

"Yes, please."

"You know, I can't agree with this."

"With what?" Remus looked up from the Prophet once again.

"You and Dora. It's not happening." Sirius turned around to face Remus. He leaned back to the counter.

"Didn't I ju-"

"Yes, you did. But I'm your friend and I know you. Merlin, I've known you for over twenty years now. You can't hide this from me."

"I'm not- never mind."

"Did I miss something?" Tonks stood in the opening of the door. She had changed her hair to a bright yellow shade.

"Nothing, really," Sirius said.

"Did you put on some tea? Can I have some as well?"

As answer, Sirius muttered something. He turned around and continued making the tea. Remus continued reading the Daily Prophet. Suddenly it had gone very quiet in the kitchen.

"Are you ready for tonight, Dora?" Remus said from behind the Daily Prophet.

"Tonight?" she said, while sitting down on the chair next to Remus.

"Yes. You didn't think we were done yet, did you?" he looked up at her, "Tonight we'll go and search for some Dementors."

"Are you insane?" Sirius blurted.

"We'll have to practice your patronus on a real one, of course." Remus ignored Sirius's outburst.

Sirius put three cups of tea on the table and sat down opposite of Remus.

"Don't worry. I'll be with you," Remus put down the Prophet, "if anything were to happen to you, I'll be there."

Remus looked at Tonks and noticed she had turned more pale than she usually was.

"You'll probably faint the first time, but afterwards you'll be fine. Really."

"You're not really reassuring, Remus," Sirius said.


End file.
